How to Not Fail on Your 2014 Tax Return

It’s time to file your 2014 Tax Return. Before your eyes glaze over, the YourOffice team has compiled a list of tips and tricks regarding how to not fail at filing your 2014 Tax Return. You might be interested to know that U.S. taxpayers have already filed more than 117 million returns in 2014 so far according to efile.com.

As always, it’s important to be aware of pitfalls that could render your 2014 tax return useless. These errors include the well-worn list of obvious mistakes like missing Social Security Numbers, math errors, failing to sign your return, you get the picture. Mistakes like these can cost you and your business valuable time and money. For more mistakes, check out Tax Hacks 2015: Avoid These Common Filing Mistakes.

Here are a few new ways to not fail on your 2014 Tax Return:

Error #1 – Not claiming the health insurance premium tax credit

If you’re one of the lucky 6 million Americans who received a federal subsidy toward the health insurance you bought through a federal health care exchange or by any other means, you should be receiving a new tax form, called a1095-A.

This form will include the total premiums paid dollar amount, the monthly tax credits or subsidies applied toward those premiums, and the costs for the second-lowest-cost Silver Plan.

If you did not purchase health insurance from an exchange, but you were covered by a qualifying health insurance plan (either through your employer or one that you purchased on your own), you’ll need to carefully check out a new line on page two of the Form 1040 labeled Line 61, Health Care; individual responsibility.

Skipping this entry will result in a notice from the IRS saying you own an additional penalty tax of up to $95 for a single adult or up to $285 for a family. This is definitely something you want to be aware of.

Error #3 – Not claiming the home office deduction

If you’re a small business owner and worked from home at least part of the time, you can claim a deduction for expenses you paid in connection with your business, whether you own or rent your home. On a sidenote, if you run a home-based business, you might want to consider social media marketing as a low-cost business development alternative. You can check out YourOffice’s Orlando Facebook page for inspiration.

Conclusion

Even though it’s tax season again, filing your taxes doesn’t need to be at the end of your to-do list. Claiming the proper health insurance amounts, reporting employer-paid health insurance and claiming the relevant home office deductions can help ease your “tax filing pain”. You might be surprised to read that some Americans are considering paying their taxes with their credit cards this year as well. We think there should also be some sort of credit or deduction for the amount of hours you spend gathering information for preparing your taxes!